LOS ANGELES -- The Atlanta Braves have won 12 consecutive division titles by reloading, rather than rebuilding. They've done it again this season with Jaret Wright and J.D. Drew.
Wright won for the 10th time in his last 11 decisions, and Drew went 3-for-5 with a two-run double, helping the Braves beat the Los Angeles Dodgers 10-1 Sunday for a split of the four-game series.
"They definitely know how to run an organization over here," said Wright (12-6). "They get guys and put them in situations to succeed, and they've been doing it for a while now."
Chipper Jones, one of four players left from the Braves' 1996 NL Division Series sweep of the Dodgers, capped an eight-run second inning with a three-run homer.
The Braves won the season series 4-3, but could hook up with Los Angeles again in the playoffs if they maintain their division leads.
"I think they're a lot like us," Dodgers right fielder Shawn Green said. "They have similar starting pitching, similar closers, and they play great defense up the middle like us. So if you were going to make two teams that were alike, these would be them. We match up really well, so it would be hard to pick a winner in a playoff series."
The Dodgers have had four managers, four general managers and five pitching coaches since that playoff series with Atlanta. The Braves have had only one of each during the last 14 seasons -- Bobby Cox, John Schuerholz and Leo Mazzone.
That continuity has the Braves bidding for an unprecedented 13th straight division title, not counting 1994, when the season was disrupted by a players strike.
"It's huge when you have stability in the front office and you have a Hall of Fame manager," Mazzone said. "The fact that all three of us have been together this long means that there's a program, there's a philosophy, there's a belief in place, and we don't change our way of doing things regardless of personnel changes.
"It's something you don't see in sports very often anymore, but it's a tremendous way to go about getting things done right."
Wright allowed a run and three hits in seven innings, retiring his first 12 batters -- and his last nine. He walked none and struck out seven, including Milton Bradley all three times up.
The Dodgers got three straight singles with no outs in the fifth, including a run-scoring hit by Robin Ventura. Those were their only baserunners against Wright, who beat them for the first time in four career decisions, including two starts.
"He was hitting both sides of the plate, especially the first few innings," Green said. "He got the big lead - and obviously once you get that, you can just cruise through the game."
Wilson Alvarez (7-4) lasted just 1 1/3 innings and was charged with eight runs and nine hits in the shortest of his 13 starts this season. The left-hander, who had done a masterful job filling in for injured starters Hideo Nomo, Edwin Jackson and Brad Penny up to now, did not allow more than three earned runs in any of his previous eight starts.
"I could not locate my fastball and it got me in a lot of trouble," Alvarez said. "The only pitch I was able to throw for strikes was my breaking ball. I just tried to fight my way through it. I was just hoping they would hit it at somebody."
Seven of the eight batters Alvarez faced in the second inning got hits. Eddie Perez opened the scoring with an RBI double, Charles Thomas singled home a run, and Perez scored when Wright grounded into a force play.
Rafael Furcal and Marcus Giles each singled, and Drew followed with a bases-loaded two-run double that chased Alvarez after just 40 pitches.
Jones, who has seven homers in the last nine games he has started, greeted Elmer Dessens with his 22nd home run -- a drive to center that gave the Braves an 8-0 lead. Jones' 302 career homers are fifth-most among switch-hitters, 12 fewer than former Dodger Reggie Smith.
The eight-run inning was the Braves' largest on the road this season. They had two bigger rallies at home, scoring 11 in the fourth inning of an 18-10 victory against the New York Mets on April 7, and nine in the fifth inning of a 10-4 win against Boston on July 4.
Notes
- Braves 1B Julio Franco went 3-for-5 the day before his 46th birthday. He made his major league debut on April 23, 1982.
- Braves center fielder Andruw Jones, 0-for-8 lifetime against Alvarez, got the day off to rest a sore back.
- Dessens made his first appearance for the Dodgers, who acquired him last Thursday from Arizona.
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